Half to francis asbury williams



(No Model.)

' S. E. KIEROLF.

CARRIAGE TOP. No. 388,689. PatentedAug. 28, 1888.

ATTORNEY- N. FETERb. Ph nlo-LilIIogr-Iplu-r. Washingnll. p. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SALEM EMANUEL KIEROLE OF JACKSON, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TOFRANCIS ASBURY WILLIAMS, OF SAME PLACE.

CARRIAGE-TOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 388,689, dated August28, 1888.

Application filed January 18, 1888. Serial No. 261,147. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SALEM EMANUEL KIE- ROLF, of Jackson, in the countyof Madison and State of Tennessee, have invented a new 5 and usefulImprovement in Carriage-Tops, of

which the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of my improvedcarriage-top. Fig. 2 is a similar view thereof, showing it folded; andFig. 3 is a View of the brace in modified form, the knuckle-joint beingsubstituted by a spring.

This invention contemplates improvements 1 in carriage-tops, having forits object tomore especially provide for convenience and facility ingetting in and out of the carriage or vehicle, and to these ends thenature of the invention consists of the combination of parts, includingtheir construction, substantially as hereinafter fully set forth, andpointed out in the claims.

In the embodiment of my invention I employ, in the ordinary form ofcarriage top, in lieu of the common front bow, a bow, A, re

2 stricted in its limits to the canopy or cover. This bow, together withthe middle bow,B, and back bow, O, is connected to and heldin its normalelevated position by means of the usual form of braces or stays, D D.

;.o E E are additional braces or stays, which serve in the capacityformerly filled by the lower portions of the ordinary front bow, andwhich are bolted or otherwise connected at their upper forward ends tothe sides of the 5 bow A, while their lower inner ends are suitablyconnected to the middle bow, B, well up out of the way. The stays orbraces E are each formed in two parts which are connected together by aknuckle-joint, as at a,- or they 0 may each be formed with a spring totake the place of said knucklejoint, as at a,in the modificationembraced in Fig. 3, in the present instance a coiled spring being shown,to permit of the inward folding of the braces as required in loweringthe top. The lower portions of the 5 stays'or braces E are offset, as atb, from the middle braces, B, while above their joints or flexiblepoints they are inwardly curved, so as to effect the holding of the topin an elevated position and to sustain the top in its lowered oposition, the upper or outer portions of said braces resting, when thetop is in the latter position, upon the middle bow, as shown in Fig. 2.

Having thus fully described my invention, 5 what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, isw 1. In a carriage top, the combination,with the front bow restricted to the canopy or cover,

and the middle bow, of the additional braces connected tosaid front andmiddle bows, and, in addition, to yielding or flexing inward, eachhaving an otfset near its lower end and inwardly curved above itsflexing or yielding point or joint, permitting the braces, as the topfolds down, to rest upon the middle bow and sustain the top in thelowered position, substantially as set forth.

2. In a carriage-top, the combination, with the front bow restricted tothe canopy or cover,

and the middlebow, of the additional braces connected to said front andmiddle bows, and each being formed with a spring and an offset near itslower end and inwardly curved above said spring, substantially as setforth. 1

SALEM EMANUEL KIEROLF.

Witnesses:

W. D. KIEROLF, T. L. ADAMS.

